In
16 countries human development levels for women are equal or higher
than those for men according to the new Gender Development Index
Levels in human development continue to rise - yet the pace has
slowed for all regions and progress has been highly uneven, according to
the latest Human Development Index (HDI) included in the 2014 Human
Development Report "Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities
and Building Resilience", published today by United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP).
The
lower human development groups appear to be improving at a higher rate -
grounds for optimism that the gap between higher and lower human
development groups is narrowing.
Zimbabwe, for example, experienced the biggest improvement in HDI due to a significant increase in life expectancy - 1.8 years from 2012 to 2013, almost quadruple the average global increase.
Meanwhile,
the rankings remain unchanged at both ends of the HDI. Norway,
Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands and United States remain in the lead
for another year, while Sierra Leone, Chad, Central African Republic,
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Niger continue to rank bottom of
the list.
Despite
overall gains in human development, progress in all regions decelerated
over 2008-2013 compared to 2000-2008. In the Arab States, Asia and the
Pacific region, and Latin America and the Caribbean, average annual
growth rate in HDI dropped by about half when comparing these periods.
The
steepest declines in HDI values this year occurred in Central African
Republic, Libya and Syria, where ongoing conflict contributed to a drop
in incomes.
This
year's Report presents HDI values for 187 countries, and is the first
index to use the latest International Comparison Program's conversion
rates of national currencies to purchasing power parity, released by the
World Bank in May 2014.
Income inequality continues to grow and education remains persistently unequal
The
2014 Report reveals that overall inequality has declined slightly in
most regions, as measured by the Inequality-Adjusted Human Development
Index (IHDI). This has been driven mainly by improvements in health in
recent years.
However,
inequality in income has risen in several regions, including among very
high human development countries. Despite registering the biggest drop
in overall inequality this year, the Latin America and Caribbean region
maintains the global high-water mark in income inequality.
And
high disparities in education persist. The Report shows that older
generations continue to struggle with illiteracy, while younger ones are
having difficulty making the leap from primary to secondary schooling.
The highest levels of education inequality are found in South Asia, the
Arab States and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The
IHDI, calculated for 145 countries, shows that the lowest levels of
inequality are to be found in Norway, Finland, and Czech Republic.
When ranked by the IHDI, some countries rank lower than when ranked by the HDI.
In
United States, Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is higher than in
Canada. But when the GNI is adjusted for inequality, the reverse
becomes true. Similarly, Botswana, Brazil and Chile have large
adjustments to GNI per capita due to high inequality.
Download the Report:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/2014-report/download
